Monday, March 5, 2018

I have never thrown a book across the room, so livid
that I think it’s a candidate for burning.

Until now.

Because in an era when issues of consent are at the
forefront, I am having increasing problems with books that feature
relationships built on “consensual rape.” As a lawyer, I would argue that
legally, rape cannot be consensual. And I would argue further that it is
irresponsible for authors to intentionally portray it in that way.

The stories always begin innocently enough. The young
maiden, let’s call her Abrella, recently abducted by pirates, finds herself
alone in her cabin with the hot handsome “Pirate King.” She is horrified by
this man. He is a barbarian. He has murdered her parents and many others,
claiming her as “the spoils.”

He moves toward her with intent, stealing a kiss. Then
he paws at her, squeezing her breasts, his hand reaching underneath her gown
and slipping into her knickers. Abrella is terrified and she tries to fight his
advances. She is a virgin, you see, and she is saving herself for marriage. So, as his hands roam her body, she kicks and struggles, but he is too strong and
she is too weak. Then he kisses her again, his kiss passionate, filled with
tongue thrusting, sucking, biting. Abrella the innocent is overwhelmed. She has
no experience in such things. She lacks the maturity necessary to divorce
hormone driven impulses from reality. So, she stops fighting.

But when the Pirate King begins to undo the buttons on her dress, Abrella again attempts to pull away and declares, “Unhand me. I’ll
not be granting my virginal charms to the likes of you. I must save myself for
a proper man, the man who shares my marriage bed.”

The Pirate King growls and rips the dress from
Abrella’s body. He will not be denied. Abrella screams and attempts to run.
“No, stop, please stop,” she pleads. When he captures her, she begins to cry.

The Pirate King throws her on the bed, stripping away
her underclothes, leaving her naked and helpless before him. He stands and
removes his clothing, then moves between her legs. He, of course, possess an
unusually hefty penis, the size of which terrifies the young maiden. Abrella
kicks and claws, trying to prevent the sexual assault, but the Pirate King
leans in and kisses her again. Abrella loses all willpower, her common sense
abandoned to the heat building between her loins. When the Pirate King spears
her, the pain is excruciating, but no matter. Ultimately, she bucks and squirms,
then collapses in ecstasy.

Wait. What? She said “no,” repeatedly. And in my
world, “no” means “no.” So Abrella was taken without her consent. She was
legally raped. By whose definition is that even appropriate?

Let’s take the story a step further. After Abrella
recovers from the brutal rape, she slowly realizes she has fallen in love with
her captor and he with her. WTF? How can any true healthy, loving relationship
be built on sexual assault?

Now some of you will argue that this type of behavior
was acceptable in days gone by. But in reality, it wasn’t. Men were entitled to
force their wives to have sex, but it was never legal to force sex on anyone
else. Sure, people looked the other way. And in an incredibly sexist society, they
also tried to justify it in ways that made it more palatable. Note, however, that
in “polite society,” besmirching a girl’s/women’s virtue required that the
besmircher marry his victim or face considerable consequences. In addition, claiming
historical accuracy as justification for a rape scene is credible only if all
other information in the book is historically accurate.

My conclusion?“Consensual
rape” scenes in romance novels are a plot device used by lazy writers to
justify inappropriate titillation. They are intended to mask the real issue:
That rape is never acceptable and certainly never consensual. Do you want to
get your readers all hot and bothered? There are much more creative ways to do
that without glorifying a brutal crime.

Now, I could do the lawyerly thing and quote all sorts
of laws, legal articles, and other commentary on the elements of rape and informed
consent, but I won’t. I suspect the offending writers are well aware of the
lines they have crossed. Instead, I will ask a few questions:

· . What responsibility do romance writers
have when writing rape scenes? Do they have a responsibility to portray it as
the crime it is? Is it ever okay to glorify and mask it as a romantic event?

. And what about issues of consent? Do
writers have a responsibility to incorporate informed consent into love scenes,
much like they have embraced safe sex and the use of condoms?

. What about the influence of such writings
on young, unformed minds? Teens and young adults, who as impulse-driven
individuals, have little experience with sex, much less utilizing their right
to grant or deny consent? For the younger population, in particular, portraying
forced sex, i.e. rape, without consequences seems very unwise.

I don’t pretend to have the answers to these questions. But I do
know they are questions writers must answer, and soon.

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